The Festival of Suna and Konoha
by Once Was AHR
Summary: Theres a festival in Konoha to celebrate the alliance with Suna! How far will Ino go to get a date? Ships are a secret! Complete
1. Prologue

**I OWN NOTHING! Also, I can only guarantee there will be no lemon or lime. Can guarantee anything else sorry ********. Its short, I know, sorry 'bout that.**

The sun rose in Konoha. It was quite early and only the ninjas roamed. In an office, two kages confronted each other. Their names were Tsunade the Hokage and Gaara the Kazekage. After a couple of minutes of staring at each other intently, Tsunade finally spoke.

"I understand that some of your citizens are…restless?"

Gaara gave the slightest of nods. The problem was coming from the few stragglers who believed that either that Konoha was going to betray them, or that Suna should betray Konoha. All in all, an annoyance. But a major one if left alone.

Tsunade sighed, some of the ninjas who had been affected by Sunas first betrayal, were feeling the same way. She paused. "What do you propose?"

"I propose a festival. Or, more importantly a gathering that shows Konoha is not afraid of letting in Suna citizens." Gaara spoke slowly and clearly, and had clearly planned this out before hand. He sat back and waited for the Hokages reply.

Tsunade mulled this over. A festival would be a good idea, since it would give a chance for Konoha ninjas and Suna ninjas to bond. It would also not seem incredibly obvious as a way to strengthen the alliance. She gave a wide grin.

"Strategic and Enjoyable. It sounds perfect!"

Gaara gave a small smile and promptly got up. "I think a month of preparation would be appropriate."

After a few more boring and unimportant negotiations, Gaara motioned to one of his advisors. "Tell the patrolling Suna ninjas it is time to head back."

And with that Gaara and his ninja groups left Konoha, and began the three day journey back to Sunagakure.

Tsunade took a drink of sake and closed her eyes and counted down from 5 mentally. As if on cue, Shizune burst in.

"Tsunade! How could you" She cried out, a bright color of red.

Tsunade blinked blankly. "And what did I do this time?" She took another drink of sake and rubbed her temples, ready for whatever apparently morally wrong thing she did this time.

"A festival?" Shizune asked, in a tone that only she could get away with when it came to Tsunade.

Tsunade blinked in disbelief. Here she thought this was going to be another sake lecture! And this was all about some festival? Was something wrong with her apprentice?

Shizune sighed. "Don't you realize that Konoha is going to be in chaos?" She asked, flinging her arms every which way.

Tsunade rested her chin on her palm and smiled. "And, pray tell, is that going to happen?"

"Girls. Teenage girls. Hormonal, boy crazy girls. Tsunade-sama." Shizune practically spat the words out like poison.

Tsunade tilted her head back and laughed. After a good minute of laughing she managed to calm down enough to talk again. "Really Shizune, it's a social event, not some love shack! You're over reacting. Get Izumo and Kotetsu to spread the word kay?" She chuckled some more. "Really Shizune, that's your worry?"

Shizune gave a muffled sound that sounded like something quite obscene, but she left to find Izumo and Kotetsu.

Izumo and Kotetsu, being practical people, did the smart thing and started putting up posters. They had the date, and the time, and that was it. By the time it was ten in the morning, the entire city was covered in posters. Tsunade smiled. Perfect.

She chuckled to herself about Shizune and went back to her work. But little did she know, how right Shizune was. Little did she know.


	2. The Discovery

**I give you the second part! Yay! It's a lot longer than the first part. And you get an idea about who likes who. Now, I advise you to read away, and please, please, PLEASE REVIEW!!**

It was just another day in Konoha. Or at least, that is what it seemed to Ino Yamanaka. Ino could be summed up in many ways. She was very very powerful, but also very very vain. If she had one weakness, it was her looks. While most kunoichi had already cut their hair to a certain degree, Inos hair had remained long and flowing. Luckily for her, She wasn't much of a brawler, so in the end it did not matter.

As Ino got up from her house she found a purple outfit. Ino loved purple. It was her favorite color, and she looked her best in purple. When she had been younger, she used to imagine herself married to a purple prince. That was, of course, before she met Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke-kun! The words melted like honey on her lips (Was that even possible?). With an image of Sasuke in her head Ino walked out of her house with a smile. The minute she stepped out, She nearly had a heart attack.

The Festival of Sunagakure and Konohagakure!

Two Weeks from now!!

Starts at 7:30

Everyone is invited!

Ninjas have a mandatory visit

Festival. The word bounced back in forth in Inos head for a while. Then it hit. A festival. A festival was like a party. Sasuke-kun. She could ask Sasuke to the festival! Inos' mind began racing. She had to find him! She had to find him fast!

She ran. Fast. She had to find Sasuke before that billboard-brow Sakura did! Sakura-chan. The very words made her blood boil. She would find Sasuke-kun. She would go out with him to the festival. She would win the war Sakura and she had been waging for so long.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

At that moment, Sasuke was out on the bridge. He stared at his reflection, with a degree of hatred, only an Uchiha could have.

"Itachi" He whispered under his breath. He threw the rock in his hand into the water. It landed with a violent plop.

He looked up to see a platinum blonde dressed entirely in purple running towards him. He blinked, a bit confused then he groaned. _Oh No_. _A girl_. She kept running towards him, should he run away? Should he ignore her? Should he kill her…?

"Sasuke-_kun_" She called out sweetly, emphasizing the word 'kun' to a sickening degree. Sasuke gave a mental shudder.

"What do you want?" He asked irritably, actually considering in just killing her for the heck of it.

The blonde gave a feminine giggle. "Oh Sasuke-kun! I thought I would ask you out to the festival!"

Sasuke blinked again. Festival? Oh yeah, he had seen the posters. It had seemed really pointless and annoying. Sasuke realized that this purple clad girl was still prattling on.

"-And of course it would be absolute _amazing _don't you think Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke-kun groaned. He had wasted too much time here! He finally turned to her and said, icy-tongued

"Look, Why would I go to the festival with you? Hell, I've never even _SEEN_ you before!!"

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Sakura gave a groan. She wanted to stay in her nice warm bed- but someone was knocking on her door. Groaning she stumbled out and opened the door- and two annoyingly familiar ninja collapsed in. One had intense blonde hair and wore a black and orange jumpsuit. The other had black bowlcut hair, bushy eyebrows and a green jumpsuit. They were Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee.

Sakura frowned. "What the hell are you two doing?" She asked without pity.

"Sakura-chan will you-" Naruto began until Rock Lee hit his head.

"Sakura-chan in the name of youth-" Rock Lee started until Naruto head butted him.

It went on like this for almost a minute, until Sakura could not take it anymore.

"SHUT UP!!" She cried out exasperated. "What the hell is it?" Sakura now practically half spat out. Simultaneously, both dobes pulled out the exact same poster and said, almost comically, at the exact same time;

"SAKURA-CHAN! Will you go to the festival with me!?"

The dobes then proceeded to engage into a fight. Sakura grabbed the poster and stared at it. One word flashed through her mind. Sasuke-kun. Her precious, precious, Sasuke-kun. She let out a small shriek. Ino! That pig! She was probably draped all over him by now! This was bad. Without a second thought, she shut the door on the still fighting boys and rushed to her closet. It was time to win back Sasuke-kun once and for all!

Naruto and Rock Lee stopped in midfight. They stared dumbfounded at the closed door. They were both a bit distraught by this.

Naruto let out a yell of disappointment. "Godammit NO!! This all your fault Bushy-Brow' Tebayo!!" He turned to the jumpsuited boy and attempted to punch him. Rock Lee dodged fairly easily, and being a bit more clear headed then Naruto, said in his defense "It is more likely the fault of Sasuke!"

Naruto stopped in a mid kick. "Yeah your probably right'Tebayo." He then turned to leave. He would wait until Sakura had been turned down by Sasuke. Then he would be back. Rock Lee seemed to get the same idea as Naruto and left without another word. And in the next couple of minutes, Sakura raced out, dressed to kill, ready to claim Sasuke-kun as her own.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Hinata Hyuuga stared at the poster. Under her breathe, she whispered mournfully, "Naruto-kun". How amazing would it be if she was asked out by THE Naruto Uzumaki? Not that it would ever happen, she noted sadly. Naruto barely knew she existed. All _he_ cared about was Sakura. It could make a girl fed up sometimes.

While Hinata was fantasizing about being strong ad not shy, two figures loomed over her. One had red tattoos and brown spiky hair. The other had black sunglasses, and had most of his face covered. They were Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. And even though neither said a word to each other, and even though they had not discussed anything previously, ever, they both knew.

The person next to them, wanted to ask out Hinata. And they could not let that happen. They would have to get to Hinata first. But as if in a mutual consent, they both did not move. Neither said anything. They would wait until Hinata was alone. Then the race would begin.

**So, who will end up with whom? Don't look at me, I'm not saying anything!**


	3. Confessions of Crushes

**Yay!! My third chapter! Oh! And I would like to thank** **marjolein222 for my first review! Many thanks Marjolein!! **

"Look, Why would I go to the festival with you? Hell, I've never even _SEEN_ you before!!"

Ino came to a stop. Never seen her before? _Her_? How could Sasuke-kun say that? He was joking. That had to be it. No way could her Sasuke-kun not know her! She giggled slightly. How silly of her. Of course he was joking!

"Oh you are so _silly_ Sasuke-kun! How could you not know me? I took the chuunin exams with you remember?" Ino said, in as light and as bubbly a voice she could possible make it.

Sasuke blinked. He stared at her hip, and noticed, for the first time, she had a ninja headband around her waist. He frowned for a moment. Nope. He was pretty sure he had never seen this girl before.

"Sure you did" He scoffed in disbelief. "I would remember someone dressed entirely in purple". _And so annoying_ he added silently to himself.

Ino giggled again, but this time it was a lot more nervous. "Sure you did Sasuke-kun!" She paused for a moment. When was the last time she had actually confronted him? She…had seen him in the forest of Death, but he had been knocked out.

Ino brightened. "I fought against billboar- I mean _Sakura-chan_ in the preliminaries" She then smiled triumphantly. Surely he would remember that.

Sasuke only rolled his eyes. "I didn't get to see any of the matches." He said coldly, getting more annoyed with every passing moment.

Ino cursed in her head. How could she forget that? "My team mate Shik-"She began, but then remembered, he had not seen the finals either. What could she do now?

Ino flashed an award winning smile. "Sasuke-kun, even if you don't remember me, why don't we use the festival as a place to get to know each other better?"

Sasukes eyes narrowed. "My heart belongs to someone else, and it is not you!" He snarled. He then disappeared.

Ino stood still. Absolutely stunned. It couldn't be true. Sasuke loved another? Every part of her screamed with anger. Was it Billboard-brow?? Ino felt her fist clench. She bet it was. Her anger was an unstoppable raging fire.

Ino looked up at the sky. She would get a date. She would make Sasuke so jealous, he would beg for her back on one knee! Sasuke-kun would be hers!

_Ino is dancing with a tall and faceless stranger. Sasuke is dancing with a troll like Sakura. Ino goes to get punch. Sasuke does the same thing. "Why are you with that man" Sasuke asks quietly. "Why are you with that girl?" Ino asked right backed. Sasuke eyes Sakura. "She….I thought I loved her. I was a fool. I love you Ino." Sasuke said and immediately pressed his lips against hers_

Ino grinned at her fantasy. While it might not happen _exactly _like that, a girl could dream right? She walked of the bridge; she would need to start as soon as possible in order to get the right guy!

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Hinata sat idly at Ichiraku Ramen. If she was lucky, Naruto would show up. But so far, she was having no luck. She noticed Sakura race by, no doubt, looking for Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata knew that Sasuke was indeed very handsome, but for some reason, Hinata had never been attracted towards him.

Then she saw him. Naruto-kun. She gave a small gasp of happiness, and felt herself blushing. Then-could it be?- YES!!- Naruto-kun looked directly at her! Now he was walking towards her!! Maybe he would actually ask her to the-

"Oi! Hinata! Have you seen Sakura-chan anywhere around here?"

She should have seen this coming. Of course Naruto-kun was looking for Sakura? How could she have been so stupid as to think he had ask her out?

Hinata sighed. " No…..Naruto-kun……..I…….have not….." Out everything Hinata had ever done, this was without a doubt the meanest thing she ever did. It was probably the first time Hinata had lied. She immediately regretted it, and would have probably taken it back, but Naruto cut in.

"Oh….oh well, thanks anyway Hinata'Tebayo" Naruto said obviously downcast. He disappeared with out another word, and Hinata was left thoroughly alone.

Or at least, for about two more seconds. At first Hinata was all alone, then the next second, Shino was sitting right next to her.

"Hinata." He said simply. If anyone else had heard this, they would think he was extremely calm. But Hinata had been partnered with Shino for a long time, and his voice seemed a bit shaken.

"Shino-kun..!" Hinata exclaimed, a bit worried. She had known something had been wrong with Kiba and Shino since she had seen those posters. She had been hoping they weren't going to ask her out, and they were just being boys. However, this did not seem the case.

"I take it you have quite caught on to the fact Kiba and I…have been trying to find you?" Shino said in a stoic voice, with the barest trace of trying to rush things through.

"Y…yes Shino-kun…" Hinata said worriedly. Oh God. This was bad. This was really bad. If Shino-kun asked her out…would she be able to say no? Would she even want to…?

Hinata stared inwardly at her feelings. She thought of her teammates Kiba and Shino. She thought of Naruto, and immediately she felt her pulse quicken. That had never happened with Kiba or Shino, but…she did greatly love them as a team.

That settled it. She had no idea. She simply could not place her feelings for either of them. This was not a good thing.

"Do you have feelings for Kiba, Hinata?" Shino asked her.

Hinata was utterly confused now. "Shino-kun…I…I…"

" …" It was probably the most talkative silence Hinata had ever encountered. Without saying anything, Shino had probably just said everything.

"I ask you this, why? Because I must sickenly watch Kiba blush every time he sees you. So I ask, in terms of knowing your feelings." Shino finally said this, not even waiting for Hinatas' answer.

Hinata blushed slightly. She felt her own head arguing with herself. She just didn't know. The only feeling she had ever confronted was when it came to Naruto-kun.

"If you do not know, Hinata, then is there someone else?" Shino asked in a very un-shino-like voice.

All Hinata could do was nod. She really couldn't say anything else. What was there to say anyway?

"Then you must find him soon. Why? Because if Kiba finds you, will you be able to say no?"

And it was with that, Shino disappeared in a swarm of bugs. Hinata got up shakily. What was she going to do? Say she could find Naruto-kun, would she be able to say anything? What if….what if he said no? Or what if Sakura said yes to him first? What if?

She finally left the ramen shop, and finally decided to find Naruto. Even if she didn't say anything, she could still just hope from afar that He would get rejected and ask her out.

Then, Kiba appeared, a couple of feet away from her.

" OI!! Hinata!! I need to ask you something!!"

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Sakura saw him. Sasuke-kun in all his glory. She gave a giggle. Ino was nowhere in sight. She ran up to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!! Sasuke-kun!!"

Sasuke-kun looked up, and groaned. He was getting a very déjà-vu like feeling at the moment. His mind briefly flitted back the purple girl.

"Sasuke-kun! I take it you have noticed there is a fest-" Sakura began

"NO GODAMMIT!! How many times do I have to tell people, my heart belongs to someone else! Now get the hell away from me!!" Sasuke cried out, annoyed, and ready to kill. He disappeared.

Sakura stood at the bridge, all alone. She saw Lee racing towards her. Naruto was nowhere in sight. Lee jumped, twisted and landed on one knee, with a flower in his hand.

"Sakura-chan, please go to the festival with me!" He said energetically.

Sakura frowned. Lee…what was she going to do with him? She forced a bit of a smile, and said carefully, "Lee, why don't you go ask out TenTen…?"

Lee shook his head. "Neji has already asked her out Sakura!!"

Sakura groaned. Perfect. Just perfect. She then thought briefly of Naruto. If he asked her again…she would say yes. Going out with Naruto would be the perfect chance to make Sasuke-kun jealous!!

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Ino walked idly. Sometimes, she could be just as lazy as Shika- Shikamaru!! That was it!! She would ask out Shikamaru!! It was perfect! He was handsome enough, and he was so lazy, he wouldn't even care if Ino happened to-ahem- switch dates in the middle of the festival!!

With this thought dancing happily in her head, she ran towards Shikamarus favorite cloud watching spot. Sasuke-kun would be hers.

**Wow, my chapters just keep getting longer and longer. Anyway, the only ships that has been debunked, are ShinoHina, SasuHina, and LeeTen. Please Review!!**


	4. Persistance

**Well, here I am chapter 4. I am going to start off by once again, thanking Marjolein222 once again, for inspiring me to continue this story and not just scrap it. I would also like to thank Aira Slytherin and No man. I would also like to say I rarely proof read my work, so I might skip words unknowingly, and I don't know how to edit the stories once they are in the system. Oh, and I would also like to say, in light of a lot of paranoia I've seen lately, I own nothing. Read away.**

Ino stood on the roof of a building. To her surprise, the ever so lazy Shikamaru was not there. She frowned. She checked the bench-like structure for good measure. No one was there. She frowned. She went back down to the ground, and kicked a stone out of frustration. How was she supposed to make Sasuke-kun jealous, if her decoy date was no where around??

"Ino!!"

Ino turned around, to see none other than her other teammate, Chouji, running towards her, a bag of chips clenched in his fist. He seemed very happy to see her. He stopped himself from running into her, and gasped for breath.

"What do you want Chouji? Have you seen Shikamaru?" Ino asked. Since Chouji was Shikamarus' best friend, he had to know something about Shikamarus location.

Chouji seemed to be a bit put off by the question, since he had been hoping Shikamaru would not have been brought up. Nothing against Shikamaru, but Chouji had been hoping to talk to Ino about…other things. "He's at the gate of Konoha, he's waiting for-"

Ino immediately brightened. "Thanks Chouji!!" She said and took off.

"Wait. Wait. WAIT!!"

Ino stopped. For some absurd reason, Chouji had run after her.

"What now Chouji??" Ino asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance. She needed to get to Shikamaru as soon as possible. Before… before he decided it was too troublesome!

Chouji gasped a bit more, unaccustomed to so much running, and looked at Ino directly in the eyes. "Ino…will you go to the Festival….with me?"

Ino blinked truly stunned. Her…With…_Chouji_?! The Fat-ass of Konoha?! Ok, that was mean, but… Ino looked at Chouji. It had been a long time since Ino was truly repulsed by him but…go on a date with him??

_Ino is dancing with Chouji. Sasuke is dancing with a Spinster like Sakura. "Food…." Chouji moans. "I…need….FOOD!!" And he runs to the food table, and swallows the punch, bowl and all. "I WANT BAR-B-QUE!!" Sasuke walks towards Ino. "Ino I-"He begins, but then Chouji bites Sasukes head off. "Yummy"._

Ino shook herself out of her….fantasy… and looked at Chouji. He seemed very bright and hopeful.

"Chouji I….I'm sorry….it just can't happen…" She said in an unconvincing voice. She really had nothing against Chouji….really.

Choujis face immediately fell, and he looked like he was about to cry. But, he was somehow to regain his face, and said dryly, "Alright, I understand…I…you…you better hurry if you want to catch Shikamaru" He said, with only the barest trace of bitterness.

Ino broke into a big smile, and took off towards the gate. She had just avoided a huge catastrophe. Now all she had to do was get Shikamaru to say yes, and everything would be perfect!

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Shikamaru lay against one of the poles of Konohas gates. Two minutes left, he thought drearily. How troublesome. One minute and forty seconds. How Troublesome.

Shikamaru had been assigned to meet the Sunagakure citizens. He didn't know why Tsunade had chosen him. He really didn't care. As soon as it was over, he could go and watch some clouds. But, chances were, he would be forced to show them around Konohagakure. How Troublesome.

"SHIKAMARU-KUN!!"

Tch. Just great. _Ino._ Troublesome woman. What did she want? Why must she scream so loud? Why did she wear so much purple? Shikamaru silenced his brain, and reluctantly opened his eyes just a crack. Ino was roughly two inches away. She had a huge grin plastered across her face, but with the barest trace of bossiness.

"What?" Shikamaru asked, giving a yawn. 30 Seconds.

"I need to ask you something Shikamaru-kun!" Ino said excitedly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Cant it wait? As troublesome as it is, I need to go out and meet the Suna ninjas."…Kun…? Since when did Ino call him Shikamaru-kun? He shrugged it off. Bah, she was probably hoping for a favor. Troublesome Woman.

Ino gave a small pout, but then brightened suddenly. "I'll go with you!" She said, and Shikamaru didn't say yes, or no, so she followed him.

They were about five minutes out of Konoha when a whole mass of Suna-clad ninja came towards them, Gaara, and his two siblings at the lead. They stopped right in front of Shikamaru, who was pretty much thoroughly unfazed that no less than five hundred people had stopped right in front of him.

Ino noticed right away. The brother, in a full black body suit and purple make-up..Kankuro..? Nudged his sister, who had four pineapple like ponytails…Temari…? and whispered something in her ear. He then pointed to Shikamaru. The sister, Temari blushed, and Ino realized. This girl…who ever she was, wanted to ask out Shikamaru. Her Shikamaru.

Temari walked towards Shikamaru and poked him on the forehead with full force. Shikamaru stumbled slightly.

"Hello yourself." He grumbled.

Ino began to panic, if the Suna girl said something, before she could, who knew what sort of chaotic things could happen?

"Shikamaru-kun, can I ask you something?" Ino spoke quickly, and Shikamaru turned to her and shrugged in a non caring sort of way.

Temari stared at Ino, ready to kill this girl. Who was she? How dare this Konoha girl talk to Shikamaru! Who did she think she was? Why did she wear so much purple?

"In case you haven't noticed Purple, I was talking to this dolt first!" She snarled.

Ino gave a laugh. "He is my team mate, and I have something very important to ask him!"

Shikamaru just groaned. Why did his life have to be so troublesome?

Meanwhile the 500 plus Suna shinobi watched with interest, Kankuro cackled, and Gaara had the barest trace of a ghost of a very faint smile. Temari had proceeded to grab Ino by the collar of her shirt, and threaten her with some very graphic gory details. Ino in turn, had said nothing, but had given Temari a very angry face, that could kill, if it was a jutsu.

Shikamaru sighed. "What are you two doing?"

And as if, by magic, or by fanfiction, they both said exactly, at the same time,

"Shikamaru! Go to the festival with me!" Temari stared at Ino, and they both seemed a bit dumbfounded, they had just said the exact same thing, but it was soon quickly replaced by anger, due to the fact that they both wanted Shikamaru.

Shikamaru, widened his eyes, or at least, opened them fully. This was just great. Now he had two of the most troublesome girls he had ever met, _fighting_ over him. Why him? Why?

The Suna ninja were greatly amused by this, and some even started to cheer Temari on. Then Kankuro stepped up,

"Listen, Shikamaru, How 'bout you escort the Kazekage and myself, for a meeting, and you let the purple chick, take everyone else to …wherever." Kankuro said, waving an arm around, indicating he really didn't care either way, where the 500 other shinobi went.

Shikamaru thought this suggestion was purely brilliant, and immediately relayed the message to Ino, who, was about to strongly disagree- but unfortunately, for a lazy bum, Shikamaru was very fast, and had left before she could even blink.

"SHIKAMARU YOU BA-"

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Shikamaru gave a sigh of relief in the quarters that had been set aside for Gaara, Kankuro and Temari. Luckily Temari had stayed with Ino, in order to threaten her some more.

Kankuro picked up Shikamaru by the scruff of his neck, and glared at him. "Ok, I saved your ass back there, now you're gonna tell us. What are you going to do?"

Gaara did nothing, but quietly fiddled with a couple of grains. It somehow, looked very intimidating. Shikamaru glanced around nervously, and when Kankuro dropped him, he rubbed his temples.

"I have no idea." He said finally. "I never considered either of them to… "He trailed off. "It was too troublesome." He ended lamely.

Kankuro calmed down slightly, since he had heard about Shikamarus personality quite a lot from his sister. Kankuro tilted his head towards Gaara and mouthed some illegible words. Gaara silently got up and walked straight up to Shikamaru. His eyes narrowed.

Shikamaru flinched. Gaara was not a person you wanted to engage in a stare down.

"Close your eyes"

Shikamaru blinked, a bit surprised, but did as instructed, for it would be too troublesome to not.

"Now picture both of them, one at a time."

Shikamaru did as instructed.

"Now picture being with both of them, in friendship terms, and romance."

Shikamaru did as instructed.

Gaara paused, and after a moment, said, "Which one garners the strongest feelings?"

Shikamaru kept his eyes shut for a moment. Then he grinned slightly. "I know."

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Hinata was using her byakugan. She knew she shouldn't, but it was the only way to find Naruto-kun. Why was she doing this? With Shinos' and Kibas' words still ringing in her head, she began to realize that she needed to say something to Naruto. If she didn't, she would never know how Naruto felt.

Then she saw him. He was at Sakuras' house. The blood drained from her face. What if Sakura had already said yes? But as she got closer, she saw Naruto was clearly frustrated. This must have meant Sakura had either said no, or he had not asked her yet. Perfect. No. That was mean.

She walked towards Naruto. Naruto spotted her. "Hey Hinata!" He said slightly impatient. Then he brightened. "Hey Hinata, can you use your Byakugan to tell me where Sakura is'Tebayo?"

Hinata turned a bright red. "I…well…I can't…Naruto-kun…Byakugan is…"

"Please Hinata!!" Naruto cried out, getting within five inches over her. He then frowned. "Your all red, are you ok?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes!! I-...I'm fine Naruto-kun!" Oh God. Why did she always have to clam up whenever he saw her? Why couldn't she be like Naruto-kun, and be able to speak her mind whenever she wanted? But she couldn't. Because she was weak. She could never do anything about it. Why couldn't she just…

Naruto, in the mean time, was snapping his fingers at her. "Hinata? Hello? Hinata? Are you ok Dattebayo? Hinata? You're not going to faint are you?" He shook her slightly.

Hinata did the only thing she could think of. She fainted, right onto Naruto-kun. Everything went black.

Naruto cursed. What was he going to do now? He had to bring her home. He knew he just couldn't leave like this. Then, he saw Sakura, in the distance, heading home, being pestered by the annoyingly enthusiastic Lee. Naruto looked at Sakura, then Hinata, then Sakura again. He looked at the sky.

"Why me??"

He then hoisted up Hinata, and began to head to the Hyuuga household. Or at least, to a place where people knew where the Hyuuga household was.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Sakura saw Naruto in the distance. She grew excited. Naruto would of course ask her out. Even though Sakura had wanted to go out with Sasuke, Naruto was the lesser of two evils (Lee was nice…but really, look at his eyebrows!!). And if it just happened that Sasuke got jealous and begged for Sakura to dance with her…all the better!!

But then her excitement was replaced with disappointment, as Naruto left, with Hinata draped over him. "That little-" She muttered, trying to think of what to call Hinata, but stopped herself. Hinata was a sweet girl, and if she got to Naruto first, then that just meant, she was more determined then her.

"Sakura-chan! If you go to the festival with me, I will make sure to buy you anything you want!! I will do anything!! Please Sakura-chan!! Please!!" Lee begged. He was getting desperate now. He had had a crush on Sakura since he first saw her. Why wouldn't she just say yes?

"Leave me alone Lee!!"

She slammed the door on his face.

Lee sighed. Who was he kidding? He could never get someone as beautiful as Sakura-chan. He began to trudge home, when a familiar voice greeted him.

"Why the long face Lee?"

Lee turned around to see a muscular man in a green jumpsuit. "Gai-sensei." He said with a smile, but he could not contain his sadness.

Gai frowned. "What's wrong Lee?"

Lee sighed and launched into a story of Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. When he was done he looked up at Gai, waiting to see what Gai would think.

Gai smiled and flashed the good guy pose. "No worries Lee, all you need to do is clean up your act! I am a stud when it comes to the ladies!!"

Lee brightened immediately. "Will you help me now Gai-sensei?" He asked excitedly, with images flashing though his head.

Gai shook his head. "Tomorrow, but for now, get some rest, the sun will set soon. When it rises, come to the K.I.A monument, there your transformation will begin!" Gai said dramatically, and then he disappeared.

Lee gave a watery smile, and practically skipped all the way home.

**Well, there you go! Yes, I know, that 'day' was incredibly short, but I had to find a way to stall! So, this is an early update since I have so much time on my hands. Oh, and we will find out what happened between Kiba and Hinata in another chapter. And yes I know I asked for reviews, but they're very bittersweet, since I see so many different ships, I get kind of sad that I won't be able to please everyone. More importantly, Please let me know if the situations are realistic and stuff. Ok, I am done ranting. Until next time, good bye!**


	5. Realizations and Changes

**Yay! New Chapter. First I would like to thank Marjolein222( he's based a bit more on shippuden Gaara then pre time skip Gaara). I would also liked to thank Shubaltzcrazist (Now what would be the point in answering that??) Ok, Ready away, and let me know if it should be locked up and never seen again **

It was getting dark; And Ino and Temari were in the list of hotels designated for the Suna ninja. Temari, had luckily been to Konoha many times, and knew exactly where to go. Ino had just followed giving Temari some evil looks.

"Shikamaru is mine." Ino said angrily, for about, the eightieth time. Each time she said it, she felt more and more sure of herself. Shikamaru was her teammate! How could he possibly say yes to some random Suna girl?

"…the dolt doesn't like you and that's final. "Temari snarled back, resisting to go for her fan.

Ino laughed. How could Shikamaru like anyone who called him a dolt? This lady made no sense. She wanted to ask Shikamaru, but she never even called Shikamaru by his first name. It was always 'Dolt' 'Baka' 'Nara' or some other untasteful nickname. At least she called him Shikamaru-kun.

Then, one of the Suna ninja appeared in front of Temari with a grin. "Well, it seems your boyfriend has arrived."

"He's not her boyfriend yet!!"

Sure enough, Shikamaru walked slowly into the rows of hotels and lifted a single hand, as if he considered waving but decided it was too troublesome. He stopped right in front of Ino and Temari. He gave a long slow sigh.

Ino bit her lip, why did Shikamaru have to be like this? Why couldn't he just blurt it out?

_Ino was dancing with Shikamaru "Shika-kun, at least _try_ to dance!" Shikamaru gives a small 'mmf' but doesn't improve much. However, a couple of minutes, He stops and grabs Inos hand. "I want to show you something" He says quietly. They walk outside. He makes a hand symbol. "Shadow Possession no jutsu!" Then a long black line stretches out, and forms a heart with the words 'Shika +Ino 4ever'. He then turns to Ino. "Ino, I love you." He then kisses her._

"Temari-san"

Ino blinked. "WHA--??"

Shikamaru tilted his head her way. "Temari-san" He repeated. He then yawned and looked at the sky.

The words still ringing in her ear, Ino felt like she couldn't move. Temari gave a grin and poked Shikamaru in the forehead. "Don't call me Temari-san, it makes me sound old."

Shikamaru rolled his eye. "Bah, troublesome woman! You _are_ older than me!"

Ino shook herself. Temari-san. Temari-san. Temari-san. She was not Temari-san. Her knees began to tremble, and she ran the other way. She felt so betrayed. How could this happen? Why had Shikamaru picked that tramp over her? Why??

By the time Ino got home, she had calmed down a bit. There were other fish in the sea. Kiba, Sai, Neji, plenty of guys! She would find one and make Shikamaru jealou-

Wait… what?

Shikamaru? Jealous?

That didn't sound right.

She wasn't trying to make _Shikamaru_ jealous.

Sasuke. She was trying to make Sasuke jealous!!

How could she have forgotten that? How could she have forgotten about her precious Sasuke?

_Ino is dancing with a tall and faceless stranger. Sasuke is dancing with a troll like Sakura. Ino goes to get punch. Sasuke does the same thing. "Why are you with that man" Sasuke asks quietly. "Why are with that girl?" Ino asked right back. Sasuke eyes Sakura. "She….I thought I loved her. I was fool. I love you Ino." Sasuke said and immediately pressed his lips against hers_

She tried to repeat the fantasy that had cause her so much delight that morning. Nothing. She didn't feel anything at all. She tried again, only this time boosting the rating to a pg-13 encounter.

Nothing. If anything, she felt a little bit...repulsed? Then it dawned on her. The horrid, horrid truth. She didn't love Sasuke-kun. For how long? She had no idea; it could have happened this morning, or who knows when. She felt like such an idiot, trying to ask out Shikamaru, just to get Sasuke jealous. Shikamaru had every right to ask out the tra- Temari-san.

Ino went onto her house, and as she went to sleep, she promised herself she would get a date tomorrow. A _real_ date.

**The Next Day**

Hinata woke, sunlight pouring through the window. She was home, in her room. She sat up, and to her surprise, saw none other, then Naruto-kun sitting in a chair, asleep, no more than three feet away! She felt her face get hot again. What was he doing here? She saw him stir. She immediately shut her eyes, afraid of what Naruto would say.

"Ugh….how long did I sleep??"

Hinata heard the door open.

"Slept well Naruto?"

That was her father! Hiashi Hyuuga! What would he do? Oh no…

"Ach!! Sorry Hinatas' father' Tebayo!! I just meant to rest for a mo-"

"I understand Naruto. I must thank you for carrying my daughter home; she has always had a weak heart."

Hinata frowned inwardly. That wasn't true! She only fainted around Naruto-kun. She could be strong when she wanted to! Really!

"Also, someone is here to see you."

"Wait, to see Hinata?"

"No Naruto, to see you."

Hinata heard some shuffling of feet, and she heard the door shut. She opened her eyes a crack, her father was staring out of the window. She immediately closed her eyes again.

"You may open your eyes, Hinata, you can not fool me."

Hinata opened her eyes and smiled guiltily. Hiashi stared at her, not quite coldly, but with an air of disappointment.

"Hinata, do you like this boy?"

"Ummm…yes…yes father"

"But this is the first time I have seen him."

Hinata felt herself blushing horribly. Her father didn't think that…?

"Peace, Hinata, I know nothing has happened" He said with a small smile on his face.

Hinata calmed down considerably and took a deep breath. She then thought for a moment. She couldn't believe Naruto-kun had actually carried her all the way home. Did he really like her? Or did he just feel it was his duty since he was the only one around?

"I am going to say to you Hinata, what I said to Neji just the other day." Hiashi said suddenly, startling Hinata. He took a deep breath, and started.

"Yesterday, Neji was worried about a girl. Very frivolous, but a part of being young all the same. The girl was part of his team –you know her? Yes good- and Neji was considering asking her out. However, for some reason, he was afraid. He was worried that She might not like her back, and that he would lose all his dignity."

Hinata soaked all of this in. Neji…with TenTen? She had never thought, but now that she did, it made sense. Then as she heard the second part, she felt a small twinge of happiness. Even Neji had gotten shy when it came to the opposite sex. She of course, wasn't worried about her dignity (did she even have dignity?) but she was always constantly worrying about what Naruto thought of her.

"I said to him, Neji, you are a Hyuuga, one of the finest and oldest clans in all of Konohagakure. We are known worldwide for our kekkai genkai. Whether a human of lesser birth or higher birth likes you or not, will not change who you are. If you worried about everything, without ever taking action, then you are not fit to be a ninja, you would be worse than scum." Hiashi paused a moment to clear his voice then turned to Hinata.

"Hinata, you are a Hyuuga of the main branch. You are a skilled ninja, and even if you could never match up to Neji, you are a gentle fist user in your own right, and a very talented one at that. Hinata, if you worry about what Uzumaki will think of you, just remember that as a Hyuuga, you were challenged since birth."

Hinata noticed that tears had started to well up in his eyes.

"Hinata, I will admit I was wrong at times, you have overcome many obstacles since you became a ninja, don't let one stop you just because you are afraid. Just remember every time you ever fought somebody, and remember that even if you thought you couldn't win, you wouldn't know if you just gave up. Hinata, I am proud of you."

At this point Hinata found herself crying as well, and father and daughter embraced lovingly. Hinata smiled, next time she saw Naruto, she would say something, even if she didn't ask him out, she would make sure he knew how she felt.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Naruto sat on a chair, with two ninja standing over him. They were Hinatas' teammates. They both looked a bit flushed, and tired. For a while they said nothing until finally Kiba spoke up.

"All right Naruto, What the hell is wrong with you?"

Naruto found this insulting and stood up to meet Kibas height and shook his fist at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you Kiba!! I didn't do ANYTHING Dattebayo!!" He cried back.

Shino sighed and got up. "Sit down, Naruto. Sit down, Kiba. We don't need a brawl."

Kiba sat grudgingly down, and Naruto still very confused sat down, and promised to find a way to get revenge on Kiba later. Shino stared at Naruto for a couple of moments as if analyzing, which, chances were, he was. Satisfied, Shino stepped back.

"Are you aware of Hinatas feelings for you, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked, even more confused than before. He had thought they would have threatened him about spending so much time with Hinata. They liked her…right? Although, it wasn't like he had ever seen anything of romance, but it was the same way he had assumed Ino would go off and marry Shikamaru, he would go off and marry Sakura, and TenTen would go off and marry Lee or maybe Neji.

Kiba gave a laugh. "I'll take that dumbfounded look as a 'no'"

"Quiet Kiba, for we did not know either." Shino said simply, without taking his eyes off of Naruto, although it was hard to tell with the glasses.

Naruto just stared at the two. He still had no idea what was going on. Maybe Hinata secretly hated him, and they were trying to get him to stay away from her so he wouldn't get hurt… Or maybe Hinata worked under cover for the Akatsuki, and she was secretly plotting his downfall.

"Listen up Baka!" Kiba snarled. "Hinata likes you!"

"Kiba you're an- wait, what?" Naruto was about to insult Kiba but stopped, tripping over his own words.

Kiba rolled his eyes, getting more frustrated. "Hinata wants you. She wants you to do her. Get it?"

"Language please Kiba, We are in the Hyuuga household" Shino said evenly, a bit embarrassed about how…straightforward…Kiba was.

Hinata. Hinata. She…liked…him? Hinata liked Him? The words kept going back in forth, back and forth. Hinata liked him. Hinata liked him. Naruto grinned from ear to ear. That explained so much! Why Hinata always looked away from him, why she always blushed…She acted the same way around him, that Sakura and Ino acted around Sasuke!!

How could he have missed that?

Kiba laughed grimly seeing Naruto finally come to terms with what was going on. "It beats me what a girl like Hinata sees in an idiot like you."

"Maybe she is interested in the wild type, Kiba." Shino said quietly. Kiba could tell that Shino was annoyed.

"Yeah whatever, it's not like Naruto would even go out with Hinata, He's not into girls who don't talk much!" Kiba retorted back.

Naruto frowned. "Umm…don't I get a say in this' Tebayo?"

But, Shino and Kiba had stopped listening to Naruto long long ago, and argued away.

"You stupid cockroach! No way would anyone ever go out with someone who was so weird! Look at Hinata, she speaks so quietly, guys are probably put off by that!!"

"Well, Naruto is even lucky that Hinata likes him in the tiniest bit. No way would any girl ever want to spend their lives with an idiotic rascal, Kiba"

Naruto wrinkled his forehead, and slowly left the room. He would get revenge for insulting him and Hinata later, but for now, it seemed Kiba and Shino had drunken something that had not agreed with them. He finally closed the door behind them, with even Shino being oblivious to what had just happened.

Naruto considered walking back to Hinatas room, but changed his mind. He walked outside. He needed a large bowl of ramen right now. And for a couple of moments, he really, really hated romance.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

"Are you sure Gai-sensei?"

Gai grinned. "Lee, you look like the heart breaker of a million girls out there!"

Lee certainly looked different. His green body suit had been exchanged for a black sleeveless top with no collar and beige shorts. His eyebrows had been shaved so that they were half the size of what the normally were. Finally, his hair. Since, Lee knew Sakura liked Sasuke for some absurd reason, Gai had thought it would be a good idea to base the hair style off of Sasuke. His hair was spiked in the back, with the remaining hair tastefully gelled into place.

Lee had wanted to keep the weights, but they didn't fit with the outfit, so he bought two smaller black weights, and put them around his arms. They looked like bracelets.

"Lee, in the name of youth, go get your girl, win her heart, and both of you can run into the sunset together!!"

Lee smiled. "Yes! Gai-Sensei!" Lee took off, in search of Sakura. With each step he got more and more confident. He could do this! Sakura would definitely say yes!

At this moment, Sakura headed back outside, trying to think of the second hottest guy in Konoha. The one problem is that the first people she asked kept saying 'The son of the White fang of Konoha'. That was Kakashi. Yech!

"SAKURA-CHAN!!"

Oh great. Lee was back. She prepared some chakra in her fist, she was going to punch him back to next Monday.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!"

He was getting closer, probably five feet away, it was time to strike. She spun around and was about to punch Lee when-

"Lee?!" Sakura asked incredulously.

Lee nodded. "Yes Sakura-chan, it is me, and I am here to ask you out to the festival.

Sakura could just stare. Lee was not handsome devil, but he certainly looked a lot better. In fact, he looked pretty cute. (Curse those bug eyes!!)

"Lee…did you do all this..for me?" She asked, clearly shocked,

Lees' face fell. "Yes Sakura-chan, But I understand if you do not want to go…" Lee had taken Sakura being shocked as a bad sign.

Sakura shook her head. This had to be the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her! "Yes Lee, I will go with you."

Lees' face brightened. He jumped up in happiness.

"YES!!" He cried out. He gave Sakura a hug and pranced away, oozing out joy from every pore.

Sakura gave a small smile, he was not Sasuke, but, if he was willing to do that much for her, she could settle for second best right?

Sakura walked to a store intent on buying a proper kimono for the occasion. She took an especially sharp turn when-

WHAM!!

Next thing she knew, Sakura was on the ground. Who had she bumped into? Why wasn't he dead? He would be when she was done with him!!

"Watch where you're going you--Sasuke-kun!" She had rammed into Sasuke-kun. She stuttered a bit then promptly got up.

Sasuke smiled. "Sakura-chan I've been looking for you."

Sakura turned a light shade of pink. "M-me Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura-chan, will you go to the festival with me?"

**Well, That's it, yes I ended on a cliffhanger, boo hoo. Ok, if anything made no sense, let me know and I'll clarify in the next chapter mm'kay?**

**Oh, and for ships over turned: SasuIno, ShikaIno and KakaSaku. That last one was NEVER going to happen, but for the sake of consistency right?**


	6. Teenage Angst

**Yay! I finally updated! I would like to thank aeae, Suzy Q (just keep reading) and ****Marjolein222 (I like long reviews) Now, Im sorry for the wait, but I only have enough time to write on the weekends, and I seem to be getting in to the habit of updating every other week. Read Away.**

Sakura was in disgrace. She was, at the moment, face down on her bed, with her face buried in her pillow. Her last sentence wildly ricocheting all over the place.

Yes Sasuke-kun.

Yes Sasuke-kun.

Yes Sasuke-kun.

Yes Sasuke-kun.

Gah! She was so stupid! How could she? How could she betray Lee like that? How? Lee had gone out of his say, just so Sakura would say yes to her, and Sasuke just came out of the blue, after rejecting her.

But, a part of her disagreed. At the end of the festival, Lee would go back to being his ugly jump suited self, but Sasuke would still be gorgeous. Lee was an annoying kid anyway.

But…Lee had done so much.

Sasuke didn't spout off youth statements every other second.

Lee was kind.

He's so damn annoying it's not even funny. And his eyebrows! This is SASUKE we're talking about. The number one hottest guy in all of Konoha? Sasuke? The guy you and Ino used to fight over?

Ino. That pig.

Exactly. Do you want HER to get Sasuke-kun?

No.

Sakura got up shakily. She had to talk to Lee. She didn't know what she would say or do, but she had to say something to him. She had to…break up with him. After making sure her hair wasn't messed up, she walked outside. She began to look around. Where was Lee anyway? Then, she saw a familiar fellow kunoichi…

"TenTen!"

The girl with two brown buns turned in shock. Once she realized it was Sakura calling out her name she gave a small smile and waved.

"Hey Sakura-chan."

Sakura walked up to TenTen. TenTen was one of Lees' teammates. She would probably know where he was. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but TenTen was faster.

"I'm proud of you Sakura-chan."

Sakura frowned. She was confused. What had she done? TenTen continued.

"Forgive me, but I always saw you as a girl who only cared about Sasuke and…girl…things. I misjudged you. What you did for Lee-kun was so amazing."

Sakura was still confused.

"I only said I would go with him to the festival."

TenTen nodded vigorously.

"That's just it! Lee-kun hasn't stopped smiling since. I've never seen him so happy. He didn't even get mad when Neji-kun beat him in a sparring match."

Sakura felt as if her stomach did a back flip. Why did Lee have to be so cheerful? She just nodded.

"Where is Lee…kun?"

TenTen pointed in the direction of one of the many training grounds. Sakura quickly thanked her, and headed towards the grounds. Sure what she was doing was not nice, but once she and Sasuke-kun got married, she would make sure to save a dance for Lee. She neared closer and closer when another ninja appeared.

Neji Hyuuga.

"Hello Sakura."

When in heck did he learn her name? No matter. Sakura smiled.

"Hello Neji. San."

She had seen Neji beat p a lot of people, and frankly, Sakura did not want to get him mad.

"You are taking Lee to the festival."

Not a question, not a demand. Just a sentence. Only to make clear what Neji wanted to talk about. But Sakura just didn't have time for this. She wanted to end it with Lee before he ran into Sasuke-kun, or something chaotic happened.

"Make sure you don't give him sake."

That was all Neji said. He then disappeared. Sakura felt her stomach clench up a bit. What would happen if Neji found out she was going to be dumping Lee in a matter of minutes. It was not a pretty thought. Sakura felt sick. But, in the following clearing, she saw Rock Lee.

He was in his green jumpsuit again, kicking a wooden target. He did not seem to be taking it to seriously, and he was humming some dorky love song.

"Hey…Lee..."

Lee turned in shock.

"AH! Sa-Sakura-chan!"

He jumped behind the wooden target so all Sakura could see was his head. His face was a shade of red. Sakura frowned. Did she do something wrong? She took another step closer.

"Something wrong Lee?"

Lee shook his head.

"No Sakura-chan. But do not come closer, or you will see my green jumpsuit that you do not like at all!"

At this point, Sakuras heart melted. Unintentional as it was, Lee was worried enough about what Sakura thought about him, he didn't even want to jinx it.

_Lee-kun hasn't stopped smiling since. I've never seen him so happy._

"Lee…I…I…" She faltered. What could she say to him?

Lee stepped away from the target cautiously. He seemed very worried.

"Yes Sakura-chan?"

"I…I…I…"

"Is it something I did?"

"I…I want you to help me pick out my Kimono. After all, if we're going out to the festival together, we should at least match!"

Lee broke out into a big grin. Relief flooded into his face and he walked straight up to Sakura and grabbed her.

"As you wish Sakura-chan!"

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

WIRELESS WALKIE TALKIE TRANSMISSIONS

'Neji-kun. You there?'

'Yes, TenTen'

'How'd it go?'

'As predicted, Sakura did not turn down Lee.'

'That's great Neji-kun! Mission accomplished!'

'Yes TenTen. Mission accomplished.'

END OF TRANSMISSION

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

"Another bowl of Ramen Please."

Naruto took out some more money, and put it on the table. Love sucked. Sasuke hated everyone. Sakura loved Sasuke. He loved Sakura. Hinata loved him. And Hinata was loved by…Shino? Naruto smiled as another steaming pile of ramen was added to his bowl, and he slurped it up.

Hinata Hyuuga. What were his feelings for her? Did he ever feel the same way towards her that he felt towards Sakura-chan? He never dreamed about her. He never fantasized about her. And He never asked her out. But, he had never considered Hinata to be like that stupid Ino. She didn't obsess over Sasuke, and she didn't spend hours on end worrying about her looks, and she did not wear purple.

He should ask Iruka-sensei about it. Kakashi and Ero-sennin were too perverted about this type of thing. He needed someone serious. Dattebayo. He got up, ready to confront Iruka-sensei at all costs.

He scrounged up the last of his cash and put it on the table. Maybe if he did find Iruka-sensei, he could get him to treat him to ramen.

"…"

Naruto cocked his head. He had heard something. What was it? He looked around, it was Him, the Ramen dude and…yup, no one else.

"n…un"

Naruto frowned. He could have sworn he heard his name. Finally, not too far away, he saw a familiar kunoichi in the distance.

"Naruto-kun!"

Speak of the Lavender Devil. It was Hinata. How should he act? What should he say? Did his hair look ok? Did he actually just think that?

" 'ey Hinata 'Tebayo."

"Naruto-kun…I"

Hinata gulped. She could do this. She was a Hyuuga. She could ask Naruto out.

"Well…Naruto…I…well…"

Say it. Go out with me Naruto-kun. Just say it. Why couldn't she say it?

"If…you…well, I mean… if you weren't..well…I…"

Nothing had changed. Nothing. She was still quiet old Hinata. She would never have the guts to ask him. And he was to clueless to know she liked him. She might as well just give up an-

"Hinata, how 'bout we go to the festival together?"

Hinata saw his lips move, she saw the words come out, but she was still pretty sure he didn't say it. How…? Did he…did he know? Was he really…asking her?

Naruto tilted his head. Maybe she didn't like him after all, and Kiba and Shino were just sprouting bull shit.

"If you don't want to go Hinata…"

"YES NARUTO-KUN!"

The words might as well have stepped out of Hinatas mouth and danced the polka. Hinata had practically shouted out the words, and Naruto suspected it was one of the loudest things she ever said. Hinata was completely red, with a slightly desperate look in her eyes. She smiled. She then turned around.

"I'll….I'll see you later…Naruto-kun"

Naruto stared blankly at her as she walked away and Naruto knew there was only one thing left to do. He turned to the counter.

"What are the chances of me getting free Ramen?"

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Ino was mad. She was staring angrily at Hatsumaru.

"Why can't you just escort me to the festival? I told you its platonic!"

Hatsumaru just shrugged and smiled. "Sorry Ino-chan, I'm goin' with Rin."

At this Ino stalked away grumbling. She had been through most of the guys of Konoha. Most were too old, gay, or taken. Why couldn't she just find one lousy date? She was pretty enough. She was smart enough, what was wrong with her?

Her eyes caught another boy. He had Short black hair and was wearing a black leather mid drift. Sai. Ino wasted no time hurrying towards him. He smiled when he saw her. So far, so good.

"Hey beautiful."

Even better. Ino giggled. "Hey Sai, want to go to the festival with me?"

Sai smiled even big and chuckled. "Nope."

Ino narrowed her eyes. He had no right to be cheerful over this. "Why not?"

Sai thought for a moment. "Well, to take a person to such a social event would require feelings that go beyond the normal platonic relationship. Since I feel nothing, it is impossible for me to engage in such activities. Thus I have no choice but to decline."

Ino just stared at him. Wacko. She backed away slowly and left him, not giving Sai a second thought. She strolled down a path, hawk like eyes looking for her next possible date. Her eyes located someone. Kiba with his hood off. He was looking pretty cute.

Kiba, while he was indeed, very cute without his hood, was feeling quite sad at the moment. He absent mindedly pet Akamaru, and gave a melancholy sigh. Ino was not perturbed by this and confronted him anyway.

"Hey Kiba."

He looked up.

"Ino."

He looked back down clearly not ready to talk to the blonde. Ino pushed on never the less.

"Hey Kiba, how about we go to the festival together?"

He said nothing, and just petted Akamaru. After a moment he looked up and shook his head. Back and forth, back and forth.

Ino stomped her foot. "God dammit, what is wrong with you Kiba?!"

Kiba stared at her, and for a moment, Ino saw a brief glimpse of Kibas' sadness. She felt ashamed of herself for asking and turned around to leave.

"I blew it Ino."

Ino turned around again, raising an eyebrow. If he was going into a sob story, she hoped it would be interesting.

"I met…this…person, who I think I fell in love with, and I blew it. I blew it far, far, far away." He used his hand and stretched it across the horizon to symbolize 'far away'.

Ino switched faces. She was no longer Ino, loser without a date. She was Ino, Love Doctor.

"Tell me about it Kiba."

Kiba took another sigh, and started to talk. He didn't care anymore. Normal Kiba would have snapped at Ino, telling her it was none of her business, but he just didn't see the point anymore.

Ino listened and listened. Whoever this girl was Kiba liked was very odd. She was quiet, and not very well understood. She had some very powerful Jutsus, but refused to ever use them, and she also refused to acknowledge him. She had her heart set out on some other idiot. Ino nodded her head sympathetically.

After finally done talking he buried his head in his face.

"I just don't know what to do."

Ino paused. If she was the love doctor, she had to do this right.

"Kiba, tell this person how you feel, and that, you know you don't deserve to get a second chance, but, that you feel you can do better this time. Make sure to mention how strong your feelings are for her."

Kiba frowned at the last couple of words but nodded. He smiled a bit And stood up from the bench.

"Thanks Ino."

He got up and began to walk away, before motioning to Akamaru to follow him. Ino sighed. She had helped Dog boy, and lost a date. Just great. What was she going to do now?

Dog…

Akamaru…

Akimichi…

Chouji!!

She stood up suddenly. Chouji! Oh she had completely forgotten! How could she have been so stupid? Even if Chouji was…fat…She guessed, if she was de-sasuke-fied she might as well try and ask Chouji out. Why not?

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Chouji was eating. Obviously. Chip after chip, bite after bite, a four year old looked on in awe before being hurried away by her mother. Chouji looked up. He saw purple.

"Hey Ino."

Ino smiled. "Hey Chouji-kun."

Chouji frowned and narrowed his eyes. Did Ino just call him…?

"How about we go to the festival Chouji-kun?"

Chouji widened his eyes in astonishment. She…just…asked HIM! Chouji! Fat ass of Konoha! It was too good to be true. Wait a minute. It _was_ too good to be true. Should he really be buying this?

Ino snapped her fingers. "Hellooo. Chouji? Earth to Chouji!!"

"I s'pose Shika said no?" Chouji asked coldly.

Ino was taken aback by the question.

"Well yeah..uhh yesterday, why?"

Chouji did not answer. He just took another bite of his chip, and asked another question.

"Then you probably scoured all of Konoha for a guy, right?"

Ino nodded and smiled.

"Yup! It was crazy, not a single guy was available, and the festival is still a while away!"

Chouji munched on the last chip and gave her the coldest stare he could muster.

"And now…you've reached the bottom of the barrel, and you think…you can just use me as a backup plan."

Inos jaw dropped. She hadn't meant it like that.

"Chouji…you don't understand..I…"

But Chouji got up, and began to walk the other way.

"Forget it. I'm not going."

Ino walked up to Chouji. He couldn't be serious. He had asked her out originally!

"Chouji-kun…"

"You know I used to like you?" Chouji interrupted

"I used to spend all my time just trying to impress you. The only thing I love more was food, and I felt so horrible every time you called me fat. I felt…like I was nothing. And you know what? I'm through trying to impress you and your group of freaking anorexics. I've had it Ino. I've had it. I'm done."

And with that he left, and not once did he turn back. But if Ino had tried to catch up with him, she would realize something. Chouji had tears in his eyes. Despite what he said, he still loved Ino, but knew that he couldn't hurt himself trying to get a girls attention. His steps turned to sprints and soon he was running. He bit his lip, and knew that Shikamaru would be proud.

And Ino…she watched helplessly, as one of the last possibly eligible guys turn and ran. She didn't know what to do or say. Only that she sure hoped tomorrow would be better. Maybe, tomorrow she could even make up with Chouji.

…

Maybe…

**Yup. That's the end for now! Who does Kiba love? Well, I think I made it kind of obvious, but I will like to tell you right now I'm lying. Or as it is in Grendel, I'm telling the truth, but I know you'll take it differently. Until next time, please review!**


	7. Delaying Tactics

**Hey yall! Ok, let's start off by thanking aeae, Marjolein222 and Shubaltz Crazist. Yeah, I finally got around to updating. Sorry for the wait. I'm a bad person.**

Despite the huge amounts of testosterone and estrogen flying around, the festival was still quite a while away. Unfortunately. Due to the fact that many adolescents were raised as ninjas and not teenagers, much elaborate avoidance took place.

Hinata was avoiding Naruto, since she was afraid of any last minute cancellations.

Naruto was avoiding Sakura, as to not be tempted in case Sakura got to her sense and asked the best eligible bachelor (himself)

Sakura was avoiding Lee and Sasuke, since the stress of having two dates was unbearable and she just couldn't cancel it with either of them.

Sasuke was avoiding all the mysterious fan girls who seemed to have popped out of nowhere.

TenTen and Neji weren't avoiding each other per say, but they might as well have been. Having watched the entire Sakura event play out, Neji and TenTen both decided that they had to make sure Lee and Sasuke did not meet by chance. Because, let's face it, if Lee saw Sasuke he would not hesitate to brag.

So Neji dragged off Lee to some training grounds demanding that they train as much as possible together. Lee was fairly overjoyed by this fact, claiming on how he would be able to beat Neji.

TenTen kept transforming into various fan girls, skillfully leading Sasuke away from Lee. The fact she had many weapons at her disposal helped.

Shikamaru tried and failed to avoid Temari. The two were now taking great care to avoid Kankuro and Gaara, who had, seemingly overnight, grown big brother complexes, and insisted on supervising.

Chouji was avoiding everyone and would spend all his time at either the Bar-B-Que or (when he didn't have enough money) at Ichirakus Ramen. And the way Chouji ate, he spent a lot more time at the ramen stand.

Kiba had claimed to go on a camping trip and wasn't coming back until after the festival.

Shino…well Shino did what Shino did best which was pretend everything was normal, freak people out with the way he talked and watched bugs. So all in all, every one avoided him.

And all that was left was Ino Yamanaka. She, unlike many others, was not avoiding anyone. She was trying to find a date. It was turning out absolutely horrible. After the first couple of days of trying to get Chouji to come with her, she had given up. It just wasn't worth it. The big oaf would come to his senses eventually. Or he would die of a clogged artery at the rate he was eating.

Ino walked slowly through the streets of Konoha. It was as busy as ever, but underneath it all, there was unease. People would start walking one way spot someone and turn around right away. Half the teenager shinobis seemed to have gotten permanent nosebleeds. Many of the adults just chuckled stating the classic 'kids will be kids'. Once they become adults , they'll learn the proper way to get a date.

Yeah Right.

Ino observed as Might Gai was turned down by twenty five different girls. Each time he claimed he would do eight hundred crunches if he got turned down. He would get turned down, leave, and come back an hour or two later and repeat the process. It wasn't surprising how he had gotten so buff.

Kurenai and Asuma had been fine…except for the fact they conveniently met each other every ten minutes, and somehow conveniently managed to try and buy the exact same thing, and conveniently, their hands would touch. They would then smile, and turn away and go about their business.

Iruka had been turned into a pack animal. He had made the mistake of asking out Anko, the chuunin proctor. She had then made him carry all her things (pointy things, girly things, scary things) to her house, and then said she MIGHT say yes, and proceeded to slam the door in his face, leaving Iruka with a dazed look on his face.

Half an hour ago, Shizune walked into a weapons store. Ten minutes later, the masked Kakashi walked in. Fifteen minutes later Shizune walked out, looking quite…flustered? Her face was red, her hair was a mess, and her dress seemed to not be buttoned properly.

Five minutes later Kakashi finally walked out, in a slightly less messy state, but still with some wrinkled clothing. He had a book opening, and was circling some things, chuckling evilly.

The adults were not as immature as the teenagers.

They were ten times worse.

Once she saw Might Gai coming back, this time with several tears in his green jumpsuit, claiming if he didn't get the next girl he would do eight _thousand_ crunches. Ino left. She couldn't take it anymore.

She walked casually along a bridge and looked glumly into her reflection. Sure people used to tell her that she spent too much time paying attention to boys, makeup and clothes, and didn't pay enough attention being a ninja, but, Ino was fine with this. Sure, choosing Sasuke was not her finest ten years or so, but still, Ino knew what to do once you got a date! You do not avoid a person first of all. You casually give a smile and a wave if you see them. If you are in a closer proximity you strike up a conversation, peppered with questions about the festival.

Yeah, being a ninja was an important job. But sometimes, a person just had to let themselves be human.

**The day of the festival, Early morning**

Inos thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Ino-chan…"

Ino looked up to see a panicky Sakura. She had some dark bags under her eyes, indicating she hadn't slept comfortably in a while. Ino had heard the rumors that Sakura had been asked by none other than Sasuke himself. A faint wave of envy traveled through her body, but it died before it cause Ino any real problem.

"Ino-chan...I…I need your help" Sakura sniffled. Had she been crying? It seemed likely.

Ino turned off her dating problems, and reluctantly turned back into Ino, Love doctor.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?"

It wasn't as bad as Ino had thought. A bit petty really, but Sakura had two dates, and couldn't bear reject either of them. Why the hell had she said yes to Lee anyway? He was such a freak!

Ino scolded herself for thinking that. She was supposed to be de-sasuke-fied! Remember?

"So…" She began "What are you going to do about it?"

Sakura looked into Inos eyes, and in a pleading voice said "Ino..I know…I know that we have been at odds for a while…"

Try ten years or so.

"But…I was hoping…that…you could…date…Lee….for me?" Sakura choked out each of the words painfully, knowing this was her last resort. If Ino said no, She couldn't do anything else.

Ino sat back and frowned. "I don't think he'll be too thrilled when a blonde claims to be his date."

Sakura shook her head vigorously "No! I mean…you can transform! Into…me" She ended sadly, knowing what she asked was quite a lot, since Ino probably had her own date to attend to. It was probably Shikamaru. She had seen him walking around with a small smile on his face, and involuntarily humming some tuneless song. Shika was in love.

Ino paused. She had no date. She had to go to the festival. She might as well have a date right? Even if the date was an eyebrow freak (stop that) and she was going to look like Sakura. Ino nodded. "Alright Sakura, I'll help you out, but I want at least one dance with Sasuke-kun!"

Ok, so maybe she wasn't _totally _free of Sasuke. She still got a bit of a lump in her throat. She was hoping if she got to dance with him she could officially get over him. Or maybe she would just become more intoxicated with him. She really hoped that wouldn't happen.

Sakura nodded, smiling through her tears. "Thanks Ino…but…what about your date?"

Ino laughed and stretched her arms out to the sky. "Date? What date? Turns out, no one wants a vain pig like me."

Had she really just said that? She had just called herself a pig. She might as well have told Sakura that she was now shaving her head for charity, and would start wearing only black.

Sakura just broke out into a huge grin, hugged Ino fiercely, and whispered a quick 'thanks'. She then dashed away, for in the far distance, a small Sasuke like blur had appeared.

Ino headed home, trying to figure out what to wear. Not that it mattered, since she was going to look exactly like what Sakura looked like, but if she managed to get away from it all for a moment or two, it would be nice just to dance with some people as Ino.

She was at her door. In her house. Up the stairs. In her room. Then she let out a bit of a gasp. On her bead, instead of just the normal stuffed animals and left over kunai was a huge bouquet of various flowers. She feebly picked up the card and read scrawled hand writing.

_Dear Ino,_

_Hi, we don't really know each other that well, but I know you don't have a date…and I don't have one either, and all in all, your really pretty-_

Here he had scribbled out 'sexy' then 'hot'

_And…well, If you want to go out…just-_

Some illegible crossed out words

_I'll ask you to dance by calling you 'Purple Princess' I hope that's okay. I hope you will say yes, any way my name is-_

Unfortunately, the mysterious person had run out of room to write and had written his name in a really cramped space. Ino couldn't decipher it in the slightest.

Joy flooded in. She might actually have a date! Wait…no…she was going as Sakura…with Lee.

And even then, what if this was just some prank by Naruto or something. She groaned and collapsed on her bed. The festival was only a couple of hours away, she had been dateless five minutes ago, and now she had two dates. And She knew neither of them! Just great. Perfect.

Sometimes, love could really suck.

**Yup, that's it! Anyway, the whole bouquet thing was just a last minute thing I added to lengthen this scene. Essentially, it's just a filler with some comedy in it. So yeah, expect some hardcore drama next chapter! Heheh, just kidding…mostly.**


	8. Revelations of a Shinobi

**Ok, thanks to Marjolein222 (I'll try and proof read this one) and Shubaltz Crazist (Kankuro can't be with Ino. Kankuro is with ME) for your reviews. You guys really get through my spots without inspiration. (It also feels nice to know if I don't update, some people will be sad) Anyway, here you all go. The next chapter!!**

In a couple of minutes, the festival would start. The site was huge, and almost everyone was showing up. Anyone who wasn't there was either dead, or simply not there. Yet.

Ino was not at the festival. Yet. She was staring at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a pale purple dress, that was jeweled on the fringes. She had put her hair up, and was wearing an amethyst necklace. Pity no one would be able to see her.

She headed for Sakuras house, where they had agreed to meet up. Sakura headed out excitedly. She was wearing a pink kimono with swirls of green. She seemed to be jittering from excitement.

"Thanks again Ino-chan!" She said cheerfully as Ino made some familiar hand signs.

"Henge!" Ino mumbled, and in a puff of smoke she resembled a large fore headed kunoichi

And with that, they took off and headed towards the festival. It was slightly dark, and various performers were setting up.

"You stay here Ino-chan, and look out for Lee." Sakura said when she noticed a certain someone. Ino just sighed as the pink haired girl head for Sasuke.

Sasuke was wearing what he normally wore, except for the fact he was also wearing a tie. He smiled at Sakura, and motioned her towards the punch table.

Next to show up was Shikamaru he was wearing a simply outfit, but it was quite nice compared to what he normally wore. He was immediately tackled By Temari who had shown up before them. Shikamaru gave a limp wave towards Ino, before being dragged off by Temari to dance.

Hinata and Naruto showed up next. Naruto was wearing a black jumpsuit, while Hinata was wearing a simple brown kimono. She seemed to be oozing in happiness. Naruto seemed slightly downcast.

Hinata. Something gave a twinge in Ino. Could she have been the girl Kiba was talking about?

Finally, came Lee. And Ino felt her jaw drop. Lee…was hot. Not quite as hot as say…Sasuke, or Kiba, but he did clean up nicely.

"Sakura-chan! He yelled.

Sakura? Where? Oh right. She was Sakura.

He stuck out his hand, which held a fistful of flowers. "I hand picked each one Sakura-chan!"

"Th…Thank you Lee-kun" Ino stuttered, taking the flowers. When Lee wasn't in a jumpsuit, he looked quite nice. He had done all this, for ol' billboard brow. What did she have that Ino didn't?

Lee smiled from ear to ear. "Let us dance Sakura-chan! We shall be the symbol of youth!"

Ino gave an awkward smile. "Uhh…sure…but lets' dance _over here_" She said, pulling him over to the place farthest from Sasuke.

Soon, one by one, everyone showed up. Even Chouji, since it was a mandatory visit for ninjas. Shino showed up, and sat under a tree. Kiba was not. But he had to show up eventually.

And it was not long, until chaos broke out.

It had started out simple. Shizune had been dancing with Kakashi. Then a chuunin named Genma showed up. He attempt to punch Kakashi for going out with Shizune. Unfortunately, Kakashi was a Jounin. He punched back.

Genma went flying- and crashed right into Neji- who on a split reaction gentle fisted him- which then sent Genma flying into Gaara. TenTen got mad and slapped Neji. She then stomped off- only to dip head first into a dip a waiter was carrying.

Meanwhile, Shizune was yelling at Kakashi for punching Genma. Kakashi was attempting to apologize. Then Iruka tried to come between them- and he got hit twice. Anko didn't like it when people hit her date. So she punched Kakashi- who crashed into Shikamaru. Who crashed into Temari. Who crashed into Naruto. Who crashed into Hinata. Which got Shino mad. So he sent his bugs to rescue Hinata- which pretty much sent all the non shinobi into a panic frenzy.

Genma was panicking for crashing into the Kazekage. TenTen was screaming at Neji. And several people were wondering how Anko managed to knock out Kakashi.

Ino sighed. Ninja were not meant for social events. Somehow this had to work out all right…Somehow.

Tsunade, was hitting her head for not listening to Shizune in the first place.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Sakura and Sasuke were not affected by this. They were a couple of yards away, where it was quiet. Sakura smiled. She was finally with Sasuke-kun. After trying and trying, she had finally gotten her dream date. Thoughts of Lee, Ino, and Naruto disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun…this is wonderful."

"hmm…? Oh yeah…sure…" Sasuke muttered distractedly. He kept twisting his head around. As if he was expecting someone.

"Sasuke-kun… I was really surprised when you asked me out" Sakura said sighing happily.

"Yeah…ok…" Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun…is something wrong?" Sakura asked

Sasuke shook his head, and then he got up, and began to walk away. "Follow me" he muttered

They walked farther and farther into the forest. Sakura was beginning to get a little creeped out. Then she heard a distant voice.

"Well well, you showed up after all!"

An odd blur appeared in front of them. Sakura gave a gasp. He was wearing an Akatsuki cloak! He had bright blue hair, blue skin, and a bandaged sword on his back. Sakura recognized him from some pictures she had seen.

This was Kisame Hoshigaki. One of the Seven Swordsman of the mist.

"Where's Itachi?" Sasuke snarled. "I got a date like he asked!"

The fish face chuckled. "Always the thorough one. Your brothers not here at the moment Sasuke-kun."

Sakura blinked in confusion. She began to feel hot tears welling up. "Sa-Sasuke…what…what's going on?" He had asked her as a date…because of Itachi?

Sasuke ignored Sakura. "What does he want?"

Kisame grinned, showcasing some very sharp teeth. "He wants ya to kill your little friend there, get your Mangyekou thing, and he'll face you."

Sakura and Sasuke paled.

Sasuke had used her. He had only asked her out…because of Itachi.

Itachi still wanted him to get the Mangyekou sharingan. Hn. Sasuke glared at Kisame "Tell him that I could never love my date as a best friend. Until he dies…my heart belongs to him."

Kisame let out a raucous laughter "Damn that's poetic! You must have no life!"

Sasuke took another step. "Get me Itachi…or I'll kill you."

Kisames' expression changed from glee to annoyance. He withdrew his sword, and stretched it out, so that it scraped Sasukes nose.

"Look here brat." Kisame hissed murder in his eyes. "You're lucky I 'spect Itachi or you, your little whore, and half of Konoha would be _dead_. Get over yourself. Or, while I can't kill you…I'm sure he won't mind if you're missing a limb or two.

It was an empty threat. They both knew it. Kisame had promised Itachi he wouldn't so much as give Sasuke a haircut. It had irked Kisame to no end, being a little errand boy for the petty Uchihas, but Itachi had asked this as a favor, and it was Kisames' own fault for agreeing before knowing what he had to do.

He turned his sword to Sakura, who was about two feet farther away than Sasuke. "You now, I can kill you without any hassle. Itachi doesn't care about you."

Sakura paled slightly. But then she calmed herself. She was an apprentice to Tsunade. The Fifth Hokage. She could do this. She might not be able to defeat Kisame, but she could flee. Hoshigaki seemed pretty dormant anyway. He was calm, and had no real intention of causing a riot. As long as they didn't do anything boneheaded, they would live.

But…for that moment….it was as if Sasuke was channeling a certain blonde fox.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!" He roared and he lowered his hand. Blue sparks began to fly out. Kisame rolled his eyes. Why did kids have to be such a hassle? When he was their age, he never wasted yelling at the top of his lungs. No. He just killed them. He was probably the last surviving Swordsmen of the Mist.

How Konoha had gotten so strong was beyond him. Maybe it had to do with Religion. Hidan had always told them…

Sasuke charged. Kisames foot made contact to his stomach, and Sasuke went flying. Kisame shook his head. Pity. If he wasn't such an idiot, he might've had potential. He should have realized that it would have been smart if he activated his sharingan first.

But Sasuke wasn't done. He activated two familiar red orbs, and charged again- this time disappearing, and reappearing behind him, throwing an arsenal of weapons. They all hit Kisame-

Correction. They all hit his sword.

"You're really pissing me off Little Sasuke." Kisame whispered.

Sasuke smirked. Inside he groaned. What had come over him? He was usually better than this. Kisame yawned. He hadn't moved at all. Still sitting on a newly decapitated tree stump. Sasuke made some familiar hand signs, and sent out a fireball-

When someone punched him, knocking him into a tree.

But it wasn't Kisame.

It was Sakura Haruno. Tears in her eyes.

Kisame cackled. He appeared behind the pink kunoichi and put the sword behind her neck.

"Listen up whore. You're smarter than that bastard over there, so let me give you a word of advice. Stop being a fucking girl, and be a shinobi."

He withdrew his sword and disappeared. He was done; Sasuke wasn't ready to play in the big leagues. Would he ever be ready?

Sasuke got up shakily. "Why…Sakura…?"

Sakura looked at him, and started crying. "Sasuke….you've been distant with us, ever since Naruto succeeded from stopping you from going to Orochimaru…"

Sasuke blinked, and narrowed his eyes. "So?" He scoffed. "I only stayed because if Naruto is stronger, then that's at least one worthy opponent."

Once Naruto had left for his two year training with Jiraiya, which had been triggered by the fact that the Akatsuki was planning on snagging the Jinchuriki, Sasuke had grown even more distance, disappearing for weeks on end. Although he claimed to have never actually gone to Orochimaru, Some Jounin who had secretly trailed him, had admitted that while he hadn't been with Orochimaru, he had been with some slightly shadier subjects then would have been accepted in Konoha, he might as well have betrayed Konoha.

He had finally been satisfied being trained one on one with Kakashi, and occasionally Might Gai. But Sakura had always sensed that restlessness.

"Sasuke…you…"

Sasuke walked towards her. "Sakura-chan…I'm sorry what I did…I was being like the dobe." He pulled her close. "Let's start over" He whispered

"Sasuke…"

"Yes?"

"Go to hell." And Sakura released the chakra in her fist, and released it once her fist hit his face.

**BACK AT THE FESTIVAL**

"Just one dance Sakura-Chan!"

"Back off loser!"

"Sakura-chan is with me Naruto!"

"Naruto-kun…you're supposed to be dancing with me…"

"You are with Hinata, Naruto. You should dance with your date."

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE NEJI!"

"But TenTen! It was an accident!"

"Back off Kankuro!"

"That little bastard dies!"

Needless to say, everyone was involved in some sort of argument or other. Complete and utter chaos. Ino/Sakura was stuck in some complex love shape. She was with Lee, who was slightly too clingy. Naruto kept asking for a dance, and Hinata kept saying he was with her. Then Shino would show up, and insult Naruto in his weird way.

Temari and Shikamaru had sneaked off into an obscure garden, and Kankuro had found them in an awkward position. He then tried to claw out Shikamarus eyes.

"Lee-kun…I'm going out for some air. 'Ino/Sakura said sweetly.

"But we are outside Sakura-chan!"

She bent over and whispered "I just need some time alone."

Lee gave a sigh, but he nodded. She was probably going to sneak off with Sasuke anyway…

She walked away from the tented area and looked at the sky. This night had turned out all wrong. She bet Tsunade was kicking herself right now.

"Ino-chan!"

She twisted her head to see a disgruntled Sakura rushing towards her.

"Hey Sakura-chan…It's ok…I don't want that dance with Sasuke anymore…"

"That's not why I'm here Ino!"

"Why am I not surprised billboard brow?"

Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but shut it. She had no right at all. She looked at the tent a little while away. "How is it?"

"Horrible."

"How's Lee?"

"He knows something is wrong with me."

"Does he think…?"

"No. He thinks more along the lines that I don't want to be there."

"Oh…"

"How's Sasuke?"

"A mistake."

Ino chuckled. "Damn right Sakura. Damn right."

Sakura sighed and sat down. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

Ino sat next to her. "Hey…Sakura-chan…what are friends for?"

Sakura gave a watery smile. Before Ino realized it, she launched into her entire story, starting from the morning she had found the flyer.

Sakura gaped at her. "You had a date?"

Ino shrugged. "Probably Naruto playing a prank."

"He's not as annoying before."

"Sakura…he's with Hinata…and all he wants to do is dance with you."

Sakura sighed. "Poor Hinata."

Ino nodded. "She's probably had her heart broken into a million pieces by now."

Sakura said nothing and stared at the sky. She saw someone in the distance. It looked like Kiba. She looked back at the stars.

"Love Sucks." She muttered.

"Agreed."

Silence. They said nothing. They didn't need to. It was official. They had learned their lesson. The Festival was just an annoying blip in their lives. After this, the next day would come. They were shinobi. They would learn, accept, and fare better next time around. It was who they were.

Sakura brightened and turned to Ino.

"How would you fell to put this Festival back on its right tracks?"

Ino raised an eyebrow. "As long as you dance with Lee."

Sakura gave a long, slow grin. She stood up, and looked at the disastrous festival.

"I have an idea…"

**Whoo hoo! I'm done! Ultra mundo thanks goes to the amazing Marjolein for: 1. Making me guilty for not working on the story and 2.Indirectly giving me an idea for the Kisame scene. Ok, now I would also ask the reader to read some of my reviewers' stories. For example, Shubaltz Crazists various Kankuro fics, and Marjoleins 'One last time, one last try' fan fiction, which involves Konohas 11 getting Sasuke back! Now, the Kisame scene was originally intended to be a lot shorter, but then I realized that the chapter was incredibly short. Also, this story basically takes place in an alternate reality where Naruto succeeded in bringing Sasuke back. Obviously. Finally, the next chapter might take awhile, since I have no idea what Sakuras idea is. X). Last but not least, please review. Please. Until next time, byeth! **


	9. Wrapping up the details

**Thanks to Marjolein222, Shubaltz Crazist(x2) HMC-TSO and aeae. This is the much needed chapter. I am also pleased to say that chapter six, seven and eight are spelling error free (much thanks to Marjolein with the list. It helped a lot) the other documents had expired and I was too lazy to upload them again XD. But I'll get to it…eventually.**

"So…why am I here?" Kiba asked tonelessly.

Ino gave a sigh. "Because Sakura needs to be _at _the festival with Lee and someone needs to take care of my body." She put her hands on her hips. Kiba was getting on her nerves now. His gloom and doom attitude was dampening the already depressing mood.

The plan was simple. Sakura would first cheer up Lee, and then go from person to person and make sure they stayed still for a couple of moments. Long enough time for Ino to perform her signature jutsu. They had dragged Kiba with them who had been muttering complainedly to Akamaru.

"Look Kiba" Sakura began. "Just help us and we can help you get whatever girl you want."

Kiba just gave Sakura an odd look. "Uhh…yeah…" He said awkwardly. He said nothing else but put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

And so their brilliant plan began. Hopefully it would succeed. Hopefully.

Sakura headed back to the festival. If she looked in the right direction she could see the vague outlines of Ino and Kiba. But if she hadn't known they were there, she would've never guessed. But that was because this was a festival, not a battle. Only the ANBU were at full alert. Luckily they did not see two Leaf chuunin as a huge threat.

"Sakura-chan!" Lee cried out. "Your back!"

Sakura felt a lump in her throat. A wave of guilt. Seeing Lee act like this reminded her of some puppy dog that you tried to drown in the river, only to come home and find it waiting for you patiently.

But it quickly vanished when Victim number 1 showed up. Naruto.

"Sakura-chan! Where were you 'Tebayo? " He asked excitedly. Sakura saw out of the corner of her eye a depressed Hinata. She was by the punch table with Neji consoling her. TenTen was on the other side fuming.

"Naruto" Sakura said sweetly. "Could you do me a favor?" She said holding his arms.

Meanwhile Ino formed her hands into a triangle shape.

"Ready Kiba?" She asked.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Couldn't you just use your mind confusion jutsu instead? So you won't leave your body?"

Ino shook her head. "If I do that, he'll still be conscious and it won't look to good if Naruto suddenly starts yelling about how his feet are moving of their own control."

"Ninpou…Mind Transfer no jutsu!" She cried, and within the second, her body collapsed, leaving Kiba all alone. Well, unless you count Akamaru.

And Narutos crowded mind became a lot more crowded.

Naruto/Ino gave a small smirk.

"Ino…?" Sakura asked quietly.

Naruto/Ino gave a nod. Sakura smiled and head towards Lee.

Lee was completely and utterly confused. "Sakura-chan…what just happened?" Sakura just smiled.

Naruto/Ino began to head towards Ino. She was going to formally apologize to Hinata. Then she would take a quick detour outside where she and Kiba would give him a good talking to. However, she soon found out this wouldn't be needed.

She had just reached the table, when a sudden wave of nausea radiated through her body.

**GET OUT!!**

Naruto/Ino began to twitch. This was a very odd sight, and she immediately began to run for cover. She had only been overridden in this jutsu once before with Sakura. But that had taken a minute or so, and she had gotten a lot stronger since then.

**GET OUT!!**

She was out of the festival boundaries and closer to her actual body and Kiba. But Ino collapsed. _What is this??_ She though.

**Get outta my head Dattebayo!!**

This freaked Ino out. This was a different voice, but it was more distinctly Narutos. Normally whoever she was controlling would be absolutely silent. But this new voice didn't seem that powerful.

**I WILL KILL YOU!!**

Damn it this hurt. Naruto/Ino began to cough up blood. Kiba had rushed over, with Akamaru carrying Inos body.

"Ino!" He cried out. "What's wrong??"

**Ino…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BODY DATTEBAYO?!**

**GET OUT OF THIS BODY!**

Naruto/Ino took a deep breath.

_Listen up Naruto. I'm here to knock some sense in you._

Silence. Not even the demon voice said anything.

_What you're doing to Hinata is cruel._

"Ino…? INO!!" Kiba cried out, shaking her. "Snap out of it!"

"I'm fine Kiba…" Naruto/Ino mumbled.

**Cruel?? Wad did I do 'Tebayo??**

**You know kit, this girl has a point.**

**Who in the hell are you Dattebayo??**

…**You really are an idiot kit. I am ashamed of you.**

_How would you like it if Sakura finally said yes to you-_

**That'd be great!! I would love it!**

_Only to spend the entire night with Sasuke and ignore you completely??_

**I WOULD KILL SASUKE-TEME IF THAT HAPPENED!! But…what does that have to do with Hinata'Tebayo?**

**What did I do to deserve this??**

_That's how Hinata feels about you Naruto! The guy of her dreams asks her out, and all he does is drool over another girl!_

**Oh….**

_Release!_

Ino made a triangle shape and was happy to find herself back in her own body. That was exhausting, and it didn't help that her original body had also suffered the same amount of nausea.

Naruto slowly got up. "Ugh…my head."

Kiba folded his arms together. "Well as entertaining as that was, I would like to know what in the hell just happened."

Naruto got up groggily. "Errr….I gotta go apologize to Hinata." He said dumbfounded. He really had no idea what had just happened, but from what he could tell, Hinata was probably really sad, and apparently, he had multiple personalities.

Meanwhile, the Kyuubi who was in the same place he had been for the past fifteen years or so was hitting his head on what could be described as a brick wall. He was wondering how he ever lost to the idiot that gave this spawn life.

Naruto walked cautiously towards Hinata who was struggling back some tears. Neji took one look at Naruto.

"What do _you _want??" Neji hissed.

Naruto gave a shrug. "Uhhh…I'd kinda like to apologize to Hinata 'Tebayo."

Neji muttered something to Hinata. She nodded silently. Neji gave a sigh and left, dodging the brawl between Kankuro and Shikamaru. He sidestepped the argument between the adults, and slowly inched towards TenTen, who seemed to have calmed down slightly.

"Hinata…I'm uhhh…yeah…I'm really really sorry." This was incredibly awkward for Naruto, but he honestly meant it.

"Naruto-kun…I've…ever since the academy…I've always looked up to you." Hinata said quietly pressing her fingers together.

Naruto got a huge grin on his face and rubbed the back of his head. "Eheh really? I wasn't that awesome or anything back then Dattebayo!"

Hinata took another deep breath. "Naruto-kun…you never gave up no matter what anyone said…and I…I really admired you for that…But I could never get the courage…to…well…say…anything."

Naruto tried to wipe the grin off his face, but it was no use. "Hinata…thanks. Uh…yeah!" He really had no idea what else to say.

Hinata just looked at him with a half smile. Part of her wanted to forgive Naruto, but part of her wanted to try and get really mad at him. Unfortunately she just wasn't that good at holding a grudge.

Finally, Naruto thought of something to say. " 'ow 'bout we get same ramen Hinata? Ichirakus set up a stand somewhere 'Tebayo…"

All Hinata could do was nod, and both avoiding the other dramas, the headed for the stand that was manned by Ayame, the girl who worked at Ichirakus.

Sakura broke away from talking with Lee momentarily and headed for Victim number two. Kankuro.

Gaara had decided he would have nothing to do with any of this and decided to talk to some of the Konoha Anbu.

Tsunade realized that Shizune was right and just hoped nothing bad would happen.

Shikamaru, Kankuro, and Temari were in a complicated three way fight. Kankuro was attempting to attack Shikamaru, while Temari kept tackling Kankuro, and Shikamaru kept aiming his jutsu at both of them, in order to stop the fighting.

Anyone not in the fight were worried about fighting since they were technically allied to these people, and they really didn't know who to attack first without causing some sort of political riff.

All of a sudden Kankuro stopped moving. Sakura hadn't even reached them, and Shikamaru had run out of chakra a long time ago.

But Temari had unknowingly managed to get him to stay still long enough for the mind transfer jutsu to work.

Kankuro got up, and walked away. Everyone stared at him awkwardly. He walked outside, and headed for Kiba. Now they could go through with their original plan.

Kankuro/Ino released the jutsu, and she returned to her body. Which was now even in more pain, due to Kankuro being tackled before Kankuro/Ino could get away.

Kiba handed her a soldier pill and shook Kankuro slightly. Once Kankuro got up, it would be Kibas turn to knock some sense into him.

Then came Genma.

And some other ninja who were causing more trouble then what was good for them.

It eventually became clear the most of the Jounin had caught on to it (especially certain Jounin named Inoichi,Shikaku, and Chouza).

Soon they began to grab the people causing trouble themselves and hold him still and point wildly at him.

Meanwhile, Kiba was forced to become a makeshift psychiatrist. Luckily Shino showed up and helped him with the 'patients' who were trying to get away.

TenTen who was not to keen on going quietly, subsequently apologized to Neji and blamed the whole thing on pms.

And finally, Gaara decided to take responsibility for the entire thing and told everyone that they behave themselves or he would get very scary.

Finally, everything quieted down, and the music was played, and almost everything was fairly happy.

Almost.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Kiba was once again alone, sitting on a hill petting Akamaru. He heard a slight rustling noise, and out of the forest came Sasuke.

"Well if it isn't Sasuke!" Kiba said mocking with a grin on his face. Sasuke was indeed a mess.

"Shut it Kiba" He muttered. He sat (more of collapsed) on the ground next to Kiba and just gave a sigh.

"Love sucks." Sasuke finally said.

Kiba nodded. "Agree with you there."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Hinata?"

Kiba gave Sasuke an odd look but said nothing.

Sasuke took that as a yes and shrugged. "Sakura punched me just because of my brother."

Kiba brightened suddenly. "You asked out Sakura?"

Sasuke nodded. "Well yeah, she's a girl."

Kiba gave a cackled. "I dunno, with a name like Sas-UKE I'm surprised you like girls."

Sasuke groaned. "Say that again and I'll kill you."

Kiba just gave him a bigger grin. "If you excuse me, I have something very important to tell Shino. Heheheh!"

Kiba took off, Akamaru following him and they headed or the festival, in order to find Shino. Sasuke felt fairly annoyed. But he said nothing, and decided to head for some training ground in order to get stronger.

Not that Sakura cared. She was dancing with Lee.

Not that Ino cared. She wasn't dancing but she was having a fun time talking to Temari and Shikamaru.

However, soon Temari dragged Shikamaru off to dance and Ino was left alone. So she headed to the punch bowl, where Chouji was.

"Hey Chouji-kun." Ino said cautiously hoping that all was forgiven.

Chouji gave her a small smile. "Hey Ino. Enjoying the festival?"

Ino nodded. "Yep. It's really nice, even without a date." She felt a bit guilty saying that, and she worried that Chouji would be offended.

But Chouji just shrugged. "Potato chip?" He asked offering her a slice of fried potato. Ino bit her lip and was about to tell him how many calories were in that-

But she didn't. She took the potato chip, and ate it. It tasted really good compared to some of the diet food she ate.

"Hey Chouji…do you want to dance?" Ino asked casually.

Chouji shook his head. "Sorry Ino, I promised my date I would save my first dance for her."

Inos' eyes widened in astonishment. "Date…who Chouji?! Whose your date?"

"Sorry I'm late Chouji-kun" said a voice behind Ino. Ino whipped around to see Choujis' date.

It was Ayame. The girl who worked at Ichirakus! That was…perfect. Completely perfect. No wonder Chouji had been spending all that time at Ichirakus.

"My dad wouldn't let me off until I took care of Narutos order. So he ordered in bulk." Ayame explained.

Chouji grinned. "That doesn't matter, you're here. Wanna dance?"

Ayame nodded eagerly. "Would I!"

Ino stared in wonderment. She sighed. It was nice to know that Chouji got a girl to go on a date. But it also left a bit of a void. Chouji had been who she was planning on dancing with, but now he had a date. All that was left was this mystery person who had left her the flowers.

She slowly walked to the center of the festival, and gave a sigh. She stared at everything happening around her. Genma had calmed down, and now he and Kakashi were taking turns dancing with Shizune.

Tsunade was not dancing, but she was talking to Jiraiya about who-knows-what.

Gaara was somewhat dancing with a Konoha ANBU whose name might be Jolein,

Shikamaru and Temari.

Sakura and Lee.

Naruto and Hinata.

Chouji and Ayame.

TenTen and Neji.

They all seemed so happy. They had all found genuine people to love. Ino decided not to think about the average life of a relationship between teens.

She wondered who he was. Maybe Naruto really was just playing a joke. Maybe it was Shino. She hadn't asked him. Kiba…well Ino wasn't too sure who Kiba liked, but Ino had a sneaking suspicion it was Hinata.

She closed her eyes slowly and for a moment, she saw everything as it was, small and meaningless, but something that was somehow worth dying and living for.

Ino gave a small smile. No matter what would happen, this was one night in her life. She would meet many people, and one of them would be who she would end up with.

Even if it wasn't Sasuke.

Or Shikamaru.

Or Chouji.

Time kept passing, as time usually does, and Ino began to get worried. What if this was just a prank? What if the guy chickened out or got another date? What if-

Someone stood behind her. He handed her a single flower and whispered in her ear

"Still have time to be my purple princess?"

**Yes…it's DONE!! Well, ok, not really, one more chapter to go. But anyway, enjoy and review review review!! I am soooo happy I finally got this chapter up since it's been long overdue. Part of me doesn't like this chapter though, so constructive criticism is STILL appreciated.**


	10. An Ending by Any Other Name

**Thanks to Marjolein222, aeae, Shubaltz Crazist (yay for criticism!) and Sorami-san (same boat as Shubaltz eh?). It's shorter then most of my chapters, and I'm a bit disappointed since well, it's the final chapter, and I'm getting the jitters along the lines of 'I could have done better'. Oh well, it doesn't matter now, and, without further delays, I present to you, the final chapter.**

**-falls over-**

"Still have time to be my purple princess?"

Ino felt everything blurred into a slow motion. She slowly turned around and her heart began to beat heavily.

He was taller than Ino, he had brown spiky hair, and a cocky smirk. He had a huge grin plastered across his face, showcasing his rather sharp teeth.

Ino blinked in confusion. For a split second she wanted to ask who he was, but the very next second, she recognized him.

"I didn't recognize you without the hood." Ino said calmly. Part of her couldn't believe this was happening.

He gave a small laugh. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Lee stood oddly silent at the edge of the festival. He had all of a sudden just stopped dancing with Sakura and walked away.

Sakura frowned as she caught up with him. "Lee…what's wrong?"

Lee said nothing, but he finally turned to Sakura, slightly red. "This…this is to perfect."

Sakura looked at him in confusion. What was he saying? They had been perfectly fine a minute ago. What was up with Lee?

"I…I am finally going out with the most youthful girl I could ever possibly imagine." Lee said suddenly. "But, what about tomorrow?"

Sakura said nothing for a moment. "Lee-kun…what do you mean?"

Lee blinked harshly and tears began streaming down his face. "You only went out with me because I changed who I was Sakura-chan!"

Sakura shook her head vigorously. "Lee-kun, that's not true."

"Yes it is."

"Lee-kun…"

"Sakura-chan, promise me that even if I put on the jumpsuit, and let my eyebrows grow back in, and I stop gelling my hair, promise me you will still treat me like to treated me today."

For a moment, they didn't say anything. Sakura just stared at Lee, and Lee brushed away his tears.

"I know I am not as handsome as Sasuke. I know I am not as good looking as Naruto, but I will work hard every day to overcome this." He said quietly, almost more to himself. "It is my shinobi way."

Sakura broke out into a big watery smile, and found she too was crying. She took a step closer to Lee. "I promise Lee-kun" she whispered, and her lips met his.

For a moment, it was just the two of them. The music had quieted down, and not another word was heard. For a split moment, they were the only two beings in the universe.

The illusion was gone as fast as it came, and the next minute, they heard some distant ninja give a wolf whistle, and someone else punching said shinobi.

Sakura and Lee broke away, both extremely red from blushing. Lee gave a strong grin and gave a mini good guy pose. Sakura shook her head in slight disbelief. "C'mon Lee-kun, let's go dance."

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

"And then…and then…" Naruto began to choke, and stopped talking for a split second to force down the food.

Hinata gave a small giggle and took a small slurp from her ramen. She took a well deserved sigh of relief. She finally had done it. Naruto acknowledged her and they were finally together.

"This is great." Naruto said suddenly. "A lot nicer than worrying about getting hit Dattebayo…"

Hinata said nothing, understanding the reference to Sakura, but not wanting to laugh about that since it would be quite insulting.

"But…I still don't get it…" Naruto said between slurps. "I always thought Kiba or Shino would ask you out 'Tebayo."

Hinata blushed. "Uhh…Naruto-kun…"

"_OI! Hinata!! I need to ask you something!"_

_Hinata bit the underside of her lip, this was it, Kiba-kun was going to ask her out. Her hopes of asking out Naruto-kun would be gone, forever. All her chances would be gone…_

"_Hinata…did, did Shino ask you out?" Kiba asked breathlessly._

"_I…well….uhh….no…Kiba-kun."_

_Kiba gave a crow of victory and grinned cockily. But he paused, as another thought came over him. "Hinata…you don't…you don't like Shino, do you?" His eyes seemed to darken momentarily._

"_N…No Kiba-kun…I…I don't…."_

_Kiba gave a sigh of relief. He took a step back and calmed down a lot. Then, he tensed up again. "You don't like me do you?" He asked frantically._

_Hinata turned a deep red and shook her head slightly. "No Kiba-kun, sorry…."_

_Kiba twisted his head. "Look, you gotta ask someone –anyone- out before Shino comes, he likes you."_

"_How…How…?"_

"_Cause he averts your gaze every time! Seriously!"_

"_Kiba-kun…Shino-kun didn't ask me out…"_

_Kibas eyes widened. "What…what do you mean?" He took a step back and almost tripped over Akamaru. He seemed extremely shocked._

_Hinata made a scared face. "He…warned me…Kiba-kun…about…the same…thing…"_

_Kiba just shook his head. "No…he…he…he…He likes you dammit! I'm sure of it!"_

_Hinata said nothing. She watched as Kiba seemed to turn clearly insane. He said nothing else, and climbed on top of Akamaru. He turned around, and rode away. Hinata said nothing, but realized in a rush of excitement, she could finally ask out Naruto-kun._

Naruto listened quietly as Hinata explained the events that had taken place before Hinata had confronted Naruto. He listened quietly and didn't say anything.

"So…does Shino like you?" Naruto asked curiously.

Hinata shook her head. "Shino-kun…I don't think Shino-kun did…." She trailed off and blushed slightly. She wondered…

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Shino Kiba and Akamaru stood on a cliff. Kiba had shown up for a grand total of eight seconds at the festival, before leaving. Not even Akamaru let out a word.

"Should we tell 'em?" Kiba asked curiously.

"No. Why? They are not ready, Kiba." Shino said simply.

They both got up slowly and disappeared into the woods. Akamaru followed them. They were not seen again until the next morning.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

"Kankuro right?" Ino asked just to make sure.

Kankuro nodded. He grinned and held his hand out. "Wanna dance?"

Ino nodded and took his hand, the music was fairly fast paced, fast enough that it wasn't too awkward. Kankuro did not move much. He just took some small steps back and forth.

"Kankuro…" Ino said suddenly, "Why…why did you…?"

Kankuro laughed slightly. "Why did I ask out a random girl who I saw for probably three quarters of a second, not including the chuunin exams?"

Ino gave a foolish grin and nodded. She caught a view of Chouji and Ayame who had stopped dancing. They were talking ecstatically about something that was out of earshot.

Kankuro gave a shrug. "I don't really know myself. I admit, I never really thought about you during the exams, but… I saw you when you were fighting over Shikamaru and you…you just seemed different."

Ino raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Kankuro cocked his head to one side. "What other girl would wear all purple?" He said jokingly. He turned serious. "You seemed, confused. Like you really didn't know what was happening. You didn't know WHO you were."

Kankuro let go and ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. "Gawd I must sound like an idiot."

Ino shook her head. She thought for a moment. It seemed like a million years ago when she had argued with Temari. She had briefly seen Kankuro, but she hadn't really cared. He was too obscured by purple make up and a black cat hood.

But now, he had no makeup, and Ino saw that he was actually not that bad looking. No one would ever be as good looking as Sasuke, but, Ino decided she had had enough of super hot guys for a life time.

Ino smirked. "Come one Kankuro, let's have some fun." She said, and grabbed his hand, and dragged him deeper in the dance floor.

The music took a turn for the best, and started playing songs that were not romantic in the slightest. A couple of ninja were seen in the distance lecturing some hormonally crazed teenagers. Ino didn't know any of them, but that was probably the reason that the music had suddenly turned to very loud music.

Kankuro looked up briefly and saw a man who looked a lot like Ino, only he was a man. He made what appeared to be a peace sign, only he directed them towards his eyes and then towards Kankuro, he mouthed the words:

_I'm watching you._

Kankuro was only slightly unnerved, having lived with Gaara for quite a while. But he did make it a point to keep his hands firmly in Inos'.

Ino sighed in happiness as the music continued and she and Kankuro swayed to the beat. It might not be the most romantic night of her life, and she had no idea what would happen tomorrow, but for now, everything was perfect.

She had finally found her purple prince.

**x.X.B.R.E.A.K.X.x**

Tsunade lay against her chair aggravated as the music blared. "See Shizune?" She said loudly.

"Nothing bad happened! Looks like you were wrong."

Shizune momentarily broke away from Genma. "Tsunade-sama, can't you rest it just for one day?"

Tsunade shook her head. "You said that there would be chaos. I see no chaos. I win!" She said smirking.

Shizune rolled her eyes. "Tsunade-sama…since when is that a good thing?" She said quickly before leaving quickly to dance with Kakashi.

She left Tsunade quite dumbfounded. True, she usually regarded winning bets as a bad sign, but she hadn't bet…had she.

Tsunade groaned, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples soothingly.

"Never Again." She muttered to herself as a crashing noise told her that Iruka must have accidentally insulted Anko in some way.

"No way in hell."

**Finite**


	11. Confessions of a Teenage Narutard

**There are a couple of reasons I am typing this. The first is that I deleted chapter nine. Chapter nine was only an author's note, saying that I would not be able to update in a while. I felt that since I had updated (twice) it was obsolete. Unfortunately, I did this about two seconds after updating my story, so it probably left the subscribers a bit confused.**

**Second is that I didn't write anything at the end of the last chapter. This was because I felt that if I did, the authors note might be longer then the chapter.**

**But I would also like to say something else. I ship KibaShino. Not as much as NaruHina, or ShikaTema, but if I had it my way, they would definitely be together. The problem came to how to execute it in this story without making it OOC. Or making any yaoi haters mad. **

**It was hard to do, but if you go back, you will see that I never explicitly said that Kiba OR Shino liked Hinata. They both assumed the other person liked Hinata. But when it came to the final chapter, I just couldn't pull it off without a break in character. So, I just left it implied, and decided that you could see it any way you liked.**

**My next message is to Shubaltz Crazist. Yes, Ino was with Kankuro. That had been my plan since day one. And let me tell you, it practically killed me knowing someone had figured it out two or three chapters in. My only comfort was that knowing that you were a Kankuro fantard like me, so you would naturally think of him right off the bat.**

**Why Kankuro and Ino? Why not Chouji and Ino? I never liked ChoIno, frankly because, if Ino ever got together with Chouji or Shika, there would be no next generation InoShikaCho trio. Kiba was another guess, and I think I explained that in the second paragraph. Sai…well Sai had never been an option to me. The story was already finished in my head before I knew Sai even existed. **

**Finally, I will (eventually) go through all my chapters and fix any typos along the way. I might also un centerize everything due to recent influences.**

**Thanks to everyone who read this. Mundo thanks go out to:**

**Marjolein222 who is just frankly, amazing, and an amazing author and she gave me a pairing for Gaara, since originally he was going to not be paired up. **

**Shubaltz Crazist who has reviewed just as much, and was not afraid to tell me she didn't like one of my chapters as much as my other ones.**

**And aeae, whom I know in real life. Thanks for taking the time. And really, you knew about Kiba and Shino, how could you not make the connection to Kankuro?**

**And if you ever have a lonely fan fic that needs reviewing, don't hesitate to pm me.**

**I thank all the readers and hope you enjoyed my story.**


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